The ugly truth is white on white crime does exist. It is a growing pandemic in the white community, and if we don't call attention to this problem soon, there will be no more white people left to run the world.

Fifty years after the bloody Selma march shocked Johnson and the nation into taking fast track action to right a glaring historic wrong, namely the denial of the right to vote to millions in America, that right is still under intense assault. This is why we still need a Selma today.

Locks are an unapologetically black hairstyle, from their origins to the growing process. And while natural black hair has been put down for hundreds of years in the United States, Zendaya Coleman was showcasing pride.

A multi-cultural group of retired and former police officers met with Rep. Jackson Lee of Texas to share and discuss their varied personal experiences with regard to institutionalized racism and the unnecessary state-sponsored murders of all Americans.

Now, perhaps more than ever before, black people are joining forces and standing up for their rights and recognition. Yet, there is still disharmony within that same united front when it comes to accepting our transgender brothers and sisters.

And Malcolm X stands for self-empowerment. He is proof that anyone, even those who have fallen far, can free himself. You just have to work harder. That's why his spirit is very much still alive in the whole wide world even 50 years after his death.

This past Black History Month, millions of students were told the story of how America abolished slavery 150 years ago with ratification of the 13th Amendment. The story draws an upward trajectory of racial equality in America. The problem is the story isn't true. We never actually abolished slavery.

There are aspects of ourselves that we are encouraged never to reveal; but I'm not a unicorn. I'm a man. I'm a black man. I'm a black male teacher. I'm a good, queer, black male teacher who is not quite as good when I feel it must be kept a secret.

As we get ready to commemorate Dr. King and so many others who marched to Selma, I would argue that George W. Bush has forfeited the right to march. He does not get to partake in such a solemn and sacred time in our history that moved us forward as a nation when all he did was set us back.

All loans are not created equal, and in recent years the personal loan has become a great option for people to use. However, you might be wondering just what makes a personal loan different from a traditional loan from your bank.

Not only should we seek to achieve energy equity for all consumers, we also need to support diversity and inclusion efforts, and ensure that this is a priority for today's emerging, clean energy sector.

Too many of us have not been good to our HBCUs, but time and dwindling resources are moving faster than our own individual maturity. And for the HBCUs which need the support, the time for harvest is now; even from unyielding crops like me.

While overall rates of disconnection from society are likely to trend down as the nation recovers from the Great Recession, history suggests that disconnected young men of color are in danger of being permanently left behind, and this has implications for future generations.

Honoring the foot soldiers of Selma is a great step forward on the march toward justice for those who sacrificed for us. However, the momentum must continue. There must be just as strong a showing of bipartisan support to fix the legislation for which they sacrificed, starting with congressional hearings and votes to move the bill forward.

Watching Common and John Legend make history in what was an emotionally moving performance of "Glory," and win the Academy Award for Best Original Song was more than I could have dreamed. Everything else paled in comparison, and it wasn't long before we called it a night.

Remembering Manning Marable

Manning Marable modeled the kind of intellectual who kept up with developments in his discipline, responded and informed them and then utilized those insights to produce and disseminate knowledge that would be of value to people engaged in struggle for social change. That is why he is as widely read by activists and organizers as he is by graduate students.

The untimely death of my colleague and friend Manning Marable provides the first of many opportunities to meditate and reflect upon his life and his legacy. I first encountered Manning through his writing. Books like Race, Reform and Rebellion and How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America gave me a framework and vocabulary for understanding dimensions of the Black Freedom Struggle beyond conventional narratives of the Civil Rights Movement.

Later, after having read his work and listened to him on numerous panels and lectures, I finally had the privilege of getting to know him when he helped to recruit me to Columbia University. Manning had come to Columbia in 1993 to establish the Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS). Under his leadership the Institute grew into one of the finest programs in the field.

What distinguished IRAAS was its location in Harlem, its early focus on the Social Sciences and its core philosophy of creating a space where scholars, students and members of the broader communities of Harlem and New York could engage in genuine debate, dialogue and conversation. The opportunity to work at the Institute, to share in and help to build that vision was a dream come true for me. I have never encountered anyone with his singular focus and boundless well of energy. Steadfast in his vision and generous with his time, Manning was a sheer force of nature.

Scholar, Activist, Mentor, Teacher, Editor, Institution Builder, Manning Marable was one of those rare individuals who succeeded in a number of arenas. His intellectual and political vision and work can be described as nothing less than a calling, one he met with extraordinary drive and consistency and from which he never strayed. Never an academic in the narrowest sense of the word, Manning was an engaged scholar whose writing and research were always addressed to people both inside and outside of the academy.

Remarkably, his devotion to a public beyond the academy in no way detracted him from working tirelessly within it. Manning understood the academy to be an important site where transformative work occurred. He was a beloved and devoted teacher. He relished the classroom. He mentored generations of undergraduates, graduate students, and young professors.

In addition to IRAAS, he built during his career a number of programs in Ethnic and African American Studies. Beginning with his first leadership post in his early twenties, he worked tirelessly with administrators and colleagues to make the university a more equitable place. No, Manning did not choose between the academy and public. He simply saw no separation between the two: A viable research institution was a part of "the public" and had responsibilities to the community in which it resided. For this reason the Institute's conferences took place both on campus and in Harlem institutions.

The opening of a conference on Reparations was held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture while the second day's events took place at Columbia's Law School. A conference on Education and the Prison Industrial Complex had plenary sessions at a high school. Manning brought the public to the academy, but he also brought the academy to the public. He spent tireless hours lecturing at colleges and universities but also at churches and community groups. This was simply a natural trajectory for him.

The dramatic circumstances that surround the release of his magnum opus Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention will yield a great deal of attention. This major work, representing over a decade of research and writing, deserves attention as it is sure to be a definitive interpretation of one of the most significant figures our nation has ever produced.

This book is not the only representation of Manning's brilliance, however. Rather, it is a culmination of a lifetime of scholarship and activism, a larger project devoted to telling the stories of a people engaged in an epic, painful and beautiful struggle for freedom. That story had no better chronicler, that struggle no greater champion than Manning Marable.

Comments: (8)

By: mio on 4/04/2011 11:36PM

By: amendalee59 on 4/10/2011 10:31PM

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By: lainladove on 4/05/2011 12:25AM

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What an incredible human being who I never knew existed until reading about his death today. He was just sixty years old and spent twenty years putting together the Institute for Research In African American Studies at Columbia University. What dedication. He left a legacy and where ever he is in the universe he should feel proud of what he left behind not just for Black people but for all people. I love the photo of him with Malcom X another peaceful warrior for justice. Be blessed brother Manning Marable

By: Mille on 4/06/2011 1:48AM

By: Sojourner Marable Grimmett on 4/06/2011 9:33AM

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Farah - Thank you for the article. My family and I appreciate your kind words during this extremely difficult time. My Dad was also my Hero and Mentor. He was an exceptional Father / Pops and an extraordinary human being. He found his passion early on in life and lived life everyday to the fullest. I will always be forever grateful. Thank you. - Sojourner

By: ddsdfdfaasdfsd on 4/10/2011 7:37PM

By: thepaperexchange on 4/11/2011 3:08PM

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Great article about a unknown giant in AA history, I wonder how many others are out there, that we don't know about. I would like to celebrate them while they are alive, even though we celebrate them in their transition.